1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to an electrophotographic machine, and, more particularly, to a fuser assembly in an electrophotographic machine.
2. Description of the Related Art.
A fuser assembly is used in an electrophotographic machine to fuse previously applied toner onto a surface of a print medium, such as paper. The fuser assembly includes a fuser roll which presses the toner into the print medium. The fuser roll is heated internally by a heating element, such as a fuser lamp, disposed therein.
The increase in function and speed of electrophotographic printers has driven a continuing increase in the amount of current drawn from the wall outlet to power the printing operation. The wattage of the system power supply continues to increase as more functions and higher speeds are demanded. The higher speeds, expressed in pages per minute, have led to the use of higher wattage fuser lamps and the use of multiple lamps to facilitate the toner fusing operation at these higher print speeds.
A problem is that the combination of the current drawn by the power supply and the fuser lamps can now exceed the amount of current available from a standard 15 ampere, 120 volt wall outlet. The high current draw can result in nuisance tripping of the circuit breaker. It is known to avoid such nuisance tripping by specifying the use of a dedicated, high current outlet. A problem is that such dedicated high current outlets require installation by a qualified electrician, which is both costly and time consuming.
What is needed in the art is a way of preventing the fuser assembly of an electrophotographic machine from causing nuisance tripping of the circuit breaker without having to install a dedicated high current outlet.